Renting in the UAE

This post is going to give quite a broad overview, or it will never end, because this is a HUGE subject. I’ll start with a background before moving on to where to live.

It’s advisable to use an estate agent to find your property, because all the paperwork will get done in half the time. This costs a commission of around 2,500 dirhams, and is usually worth it. Also, the agent usually knows someone who can sign up to the water and electricity department for you (for about 200 dirhams more) which means you don’t have to sit in the queue for hours. Make sure your agent is reputable, use one that has either been recommended to you or from a big company, as this could save you problems later. 

When you sign on to a property, make sure you read the tenancy contract and your landlord signs it before you do. Also make sure you have his details, because a lot of times, he will live in another country and you will probably not see him during the entire transaction>and because they have the agent’s details, people tend to forget about the landlord.

Usually, on top of agent’s commission, you will have to pay a deposit for the flat of 5 percent of the rent. Sometimes, there is also a cooling deposit (for air-conditioning), which means you will pay for AC every month on top of the water and electricity bill- though sometimes the landlord takes care of this. When you sign up for water and electricity, you will need to put a deposit down of around 1,000 dirhams, depending on your emirate. All of these funds will have to be paid by cash or cheque.

Pets are not welcome in some apartment buildings, it seems to be a fairly new concept here and while it isn’t a hostile environment to pets, it can seem so sometimes. Pet owners that don’t use leads in public places could be fined and the government are planning pet parks, but for the time being, if you have a pet, find out the situation at the apartment building you’re moving into.

Where to live?

The most populated emirates in the UAE are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman. The last two because they are incredibly cheap to live in-and while they aren’t far (in UAE terms) there is so much traffic in the mornings and evenings heading in and out of them; that they may as well be in another country. People who do take this route usually have a big family and tend to carpool, or carpool to the Rashidiya metro station and I presume, stock up on podcasts.

Traffic is a problem generally across the Emirates because of many of the road structures being incomplete or not updated. The increasing population also makes things a bit congested (as I write the population of the UAE is at just over 8.2 million) but you’ll soon learn routes that will take you where you want to go without traffic. Just like you will learn all about how the road signs, roundabouts, four way lanes have the potential become something completely different overnight, without warning. You'll also learn that road signs end before they've directed you to where you want to go, and sometimes they are placed at the start of the exit you were supposed to turn into, which means you miss it. I have heard the relevant road authorities are looking into these issues.

Every new apartment block in the ‘new’ areas of Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi usually have communal gyms and pools, many of them have 24 hour security (which is completely unnecessary but comforting nonetheless) I'll put the prices in dirhams per year.

Renting in Abu Dhabi:

Even though the emirate of Abu Dhabi is biggest in the country according to its landmass, the city itself is crowded and expensive to rent in. Prices have dropped by over 30 percent in the last 3 years but in Dubai they’re dropped by more than 60 percent. Many people prefer to commute the hour-long journey from Dubai where the rents are much cheaper. However there are cost-effective options out of the main city but still within the Municipality of Abu Dhabi, like Khalifa City.

Working on a two bedroom apartment in dirhams, I’ll just give you a broad idea of how much the rents are in some of the newer areas of Abu Dhabi.

Al Reem Island- 140-160,000

Al Reef- 100-120,000

Al Raha Beach 140-160,000

Danat Abu Dhabi – 100-130,000

Ras Al Khadr – 150-180,000

Khalidiya- 150- 180,000

Khalifa City A 60-90,000

Khalifa City B 80-120,000

Except for Khalidiya, many of these places are in quite inconvenient (in my opinion) locations. It’s difficult to get to the main road, schools are few and far between and supermarkets or corner-shops are not within walking distance. However, it’s all changing pretty rapidly and some shops deliver.

Renting in Dubai

Having lived and rented in Dubai myself, I feel most comfortable talking about this emirate, also having house-hunted here A LOT, I know so much more about it more from personal experience than the research I had to do for this post.

There are many places to rent in Dubai, and I can’t go through all of them so this is just a very, very broad overview.

Undoubtedly, the cheapest places to rent in Dubai are International City and Discovery Gardens. However, they come with their own problems such as over-crowding and not always the best type of clientele, but there are little grocery stores close by and lots of restaurants around. Discovery Gardens has my favourite mall across the road from it (Ibn Battuta) Rents in these areas start from 30,000 for a studio apartment and 38,000 for a 1-Bed. There is metro access here.

Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT) and Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR)- the last two are not in Jumeirah, I mention this because everyone who comes to visit me assumes they are. I presume they were given this name exactly because Jumeirah is a famous area. Rents in these places have gone down to half in some parts.  They are close to the beach, have metro access, in reasonably convenient locations and close to shops and supermarkets. If you pay for a school bus, most stop by these areas. JLT is the cheapest option with a 1 bedroom starting at 52,000. In the Marina area there are a bunch of new buildings that have opened and the starting price for renting is around 55,000 for a 1-Bed. It’s more advisable to walk around the different buildings you want to look at and speak to the guards at the front desk, they usually have keys to view certain apartments, know the prices and can put you in touch with the owner directly-which also means no commission fees. In JBR it’s ever so slightly more expensive than the marina, but prices here are dropping too.

Motor City, Mirdiff and Bur Dubai- I love Motor City and while it seems far out; it isn’t really, its about a 20 minute drive from the Marina and 10 minutes from Mall of the Emirates/ Al Barsha area and excellent access to Emirates Road, which has no salik and is more convenient to get to Bur Dubai than Sheikh Zayed Road in my opinion. It’s got great, facilities and lots of walking, it’s close to the Autodrome but not really noisy, unless you live right opposite the course I suppose. There isn't any metro access. 1-Bed rents start at 50,000. 

Mirdiff rents start at 40,000 for 1-Beds, there is a lot of walking areas here also, but it actually is far out. There is the Mirdiff City Centre mall close by, which is a good mall. 

Rents in Bur Dubai start at 45,000 for a 1-Bed, it’s a convenient area to live, has metro access, shops and schools close by, right next to the actual area of Jumeirah and great especially if you work here, there are pavements/ sidewalks, but the traffic is insane.

Jumeirah- Jumeirah Road, Al Wasl Road and Sheikh Zayed Road are all parallel to each other. There are mainly villa-sharing options in this area and this is illegal, unless you are part of the same family. There are some apartments in Jumeirah 1, which are highly over-priced in my opinion. However if you are moving with your family, you could rent a 4 bedroom villa for around 120,000 dirhams, sometimes less. There are a lot of ladies clubs, kids clubs, open and closed beaches, hotels, small malls. It’s very social, possibly because it is one of the oldest areas in Dubai. I loved living in Jumeirah, some Starbucks delivers-Oh! They deliver in Motorcity also.

Areas I haven’t included because of time constraints but may be worth a look, Al Barsha, the Greens, the Lakes the Springs, Downtown, Green Community (Jebel Ali)

Renting in Sharjah

Sharjah is a very convenient emirate to live in, except for the traffic. My friends who live here seem to have extremely cheap cleaners, everything gets delivered, cheaper food prices, all kinds of Indian and Arabic restaurants dotted about, and unlike Dubai, it feels like the Middle East. However, Sharjah residents do, sometimes for weeks, have to put up with power cuts during the height of summer. This causes a host of issues like having to walk up hundreds of flights of stairs because lifts don’t work, stewing in your own sweat because the air-conditioning can’t be turned on and all your food in the freezer going off. However, SEWA (the Sharjah electricity and water Authority) says it tries to anticipate the problem and this year, it was much better than last, and the year before that. I remember only a week of power cuts in 2011.

Sharjah residents have told me that Al Nahda and Taawun are the best areas in the emirate. From what I’ve seen, Al Nahda comes across as more crowded yet cheaper. A 1-Bed here starts at around 38,000. In Taawun it is much more expensive-1-Beds start at 48,000-but its also a ten minute drive (apparently) to Sheikh Zayed Road and therefore Dubai and close to the Sharjah Corniche area with some beautiful views.

Just an interesting note, in Sharjah, for some reason, I have heard that many buildings claim to offer a pool and gym, when they don’t. When this is questioned, the landlord usually replies that they mean to open them in a few weeks and will show tenants a room that is ready to hold gym gear and another area with a dug-out pool. The tenant is satisfied, moves in but the pool remains devoid of water and the gym remains empty. So, if you’re the kind that needs a pool and gym (who isn’t?) then make sure your building has them before you move in.

What to do in case of a dispute

The rules differ depending on the emirate you are living in. It is advisable to ensure you have a photocopy of all the cheques that you have given to the estate agent including the deposit cheque/ receipt, your tenancy agreement and your landlord’s passport copy.


Also, once you sign your tenancy contract, make sure you have registered on the RERA website as a tenant. If you do not, they may not be able to help you (http://rpdubai.ae/English/about_us/about_ld.aspx ; http://www.abudhabi.ae/egovPoolPortal_WAR/appmanager/ADeGP/Citizen?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=p1374&lang=en )

In most emirates, you can raise a dispute with your municipality rather than the land department. Usually the law is in the tenant’s favour because the government are aware of the unscrupulous nature of some estate agents.

Bringing a case forward however involves a lot of running around and document translation. This can be done at any typing centre, which are sometimes poky little offices dotted around the older areas of your emirate (Like Bur Dubai) where your documents will be translated according to government requirements for a small fee.

I hope this post has been useful for you, next week I plan to tackle working in the UAE and your working rights, and the week after that Emirates Identity cards.

As always, feel free to contact me if you think I have missed something out, have any questions about the blog, or if you think I should add anything. Happy house hunting!